Kristin Tattar lines up a shot at the 2023 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA Media
(This story originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of DiscGolfer Magazine)
If you are a disc golf fan, now – or in the future – you probably already know how this story ends. It ends with an Estonian phenom claiming one of the rarest feats in all of sports – a calendar year sweep of all four PDGA Majors. A grand slam.
Ricky Wysocki and Missy Gannon battled until the end of the 2023 Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship presented by Barbasol. Photos: Kevin Huver / DGPT
This is it, the final round of the 2023 Elite season. After a season of chase card comebacks, logjam leaderboards, first-time PDGA Major winners and a grand slam season, the top tour points leaders fought through the semifinals to make it to the last round of the finals of the 2023 Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship presented by Barbasol.
As we’ve seen all year, both the FPO and MPO competitions came down to the hole 18 to crown the 2023 DGPT Champions.
Wysocki set the course record with a 10-under round after the cut was made and the scores were reset heading into the weekend at the final Elite Series event of the year.
The 2023 DGPT — Discraft Great Lakes Open saw two dramatic finishes as Ohn Scoggins fought to maintain her lead while Simon Lizotte and Eagle McMahon battled for the win on the slopes of the Toboggan course.
Saturday finally provided calm conditions in round 3 of the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open as the FPO field saw Scoggins continue to stay on top while the MPO field got a new co-leader.
Lucky Number 7
For the third time in a row, Ohn Scoggins shot a seven-under hot round to stay in the lead at the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open. The lead card will remain the same on Championship Sunday as Scoggins will once again be joined by Ella Hansen, Kat Mertsch, and Holyn Handley.
“This is probably the first time I shot 7-7-7 on this course, normally I’m kind of up and down,” Scoggins said after round 3, “I guess maybe it’s my lucky number.”
Although the windy conditions made for a challenging day in the second round of the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open, both the FPO and MPO fields finished with the same leaders as the day before.
Scoggins on the Toboggan
The FPO division fought through swirling winds as they made their way through the Toboggan course on day 2 of the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open. The combination of unpredictable winds, drastic elevation changes, and tight OB lines made for some colorful scorecards as every player took at least one bogey. Holes 1 and 9 still have yet to see a single birdie in the tournament, even with hole 1’s basket moved to an alternate position in the second round.
Kevin Jones, Eagle Wynne McMahon and Ohn Scoggins top the leaderboard after round 1 of the 2023 DGPT - Discraft Great Lakes Open
The FPO and MPO fields took to the newly redesigned Toboggan course in the opening round of the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open. The first round of this playoff event proved challenging as both fields dealt with tough weather conditions while trying to stay in bounds and stay focused through weather delays.
Scoggins Playing Smart
“Just throw the disc and try to keep it in bounds. If it’s not, it’s okay, it’s a tough course,” Ohn Scoggins said after taking the lead in the opening round of the 2023 Discraft Great Lakes Open.
While day two saw weather a delay for the FPO division and a late finish for the MPO field, skies were clear for Championship Sunday at the 2023 LWS Open at Idlewild Presented by Dynamic Discs and The Nati. The FPO field finished with a triumphant return to the top for Valerie Mandujano and yet another win for Gannon Buhr in the MPO field.
Taking on Northwood Black with a four-stroke lead on Championship Sunday, Gannon slammed the door after things got interesting early on the heavily-wood track for the wire-to-wire win to complete her title defense.
After starting one over par through the first four holes, Redalen took off in a major way, collecting birdies on 10 holes at the daunting Northwood Black. His 9-under round tied the course record and put him atop the leaderboard at the midway point of the second Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite+ stop of the year.
Redalan was dialed in off the tee after his only bogey of the day, hitting 86% of the fairways and scrambling for birdie in one miss. He leads the tournament in strokes gained tee-to-green by 1.5 strokes, according to UDisc, as well as Circle 1 and Circle 2 in regulation.
Missy Gannon started her title defense strong at the Ledgestone Open. Photo: Gage Hamilton / DGPT
Missy Gannon started her title defense at the 2023 Disc Golf Pro Tour — Discraft Ledgestone Open with a throw that no other FPO player has done in the history of Northwood Black. Meanwhile, a calm day at Lake Eureka opened the floodgates for birdies in MPO.
One day down, three to go at the second DGPT Elite+ event of the year.
Eveliina Salonen leads by three after the first round at the PCS Open. Photo: Disc Golf Pro Tour
FPO
All the players, and ourselves,had in mind Paige Pierce, who slipped and suffered a fracture that takes her away from the biggest competitions of the season in the worst possible way.
The number of high-level players was on display from the start of the round, and in fact it was the third card that started to make very good scores: Sarah Hokom, with one under par, took advantage of her forehand flex lines with stable drives to navigate the demanding fairways of Øveras Disc Golf Park.
